How to make a perfect cream for Carbonarra

[KlaudiaBoda]

Whenever i make a carbonara cream my eggs are slightly cooked and it dosne't taste well. How can i fix it?

 

[pastamaster1337]

Whenever i make a carbonara cream my eggs are slightly cooked and it dosne't taste well. How can i fix it?

Remember, when you pour your eggs cream on to the pasta, always turn off the gas so then eggs won't cut

 

[dragnlaw]

here are my steps:
Make sure to whisk your eggs very thoroughly. Add your shredded parmesan and pepper to your eggs and mix well.
Save some pasta water before draining.
Add your pasta to your bacon/guanciale in the pan they were cooked in. (picks up the fat)
As pastamaster has said - take off the heat.
It helps to remember this by adding the pasta to your egg bowl, not the other way around.
So then you add your pasta (and bacon) to bowl your eggs are in and again - stir vigorously and add some of the saved pasta water (maybe 1/2 cup?) - keep stirring till well combined.

Your eggs should not cook - keep them moving! and best served quick while hot!

One of my favourite pasta's.
Let us know how you do!

And Welcome to DC Klaudia and pastamaster - stick around, join in, help others even as you get help!

 

[dragnlaw]

I don't know the recipe you are using but I hope you realize that an actual 'cream' is not necessary.
It is the egg, cheese, residual fat from bacon and the pasta water that create the "cream".

 

[dr morbius]

You don't need to have your pasta water boiling to cook the pasta. My suggestion is to start the pasta going with boiling water and then turn it down. Your pasta will still cook, it will simply take longer. Then when the pasta is close to being al dente, put your eggs in a glass bowl - large enough that it fits over the pasta water - and whisk them, adding a bit of pasta water and bacon fat as you go. Your sauce will come together if you're careful, and anytime it begins to look like the eggs are too hot just pull the bowl away.

 

[taxlady]

I was going to suggest tempering the whisked eggs and cheese with some of the hot pasta water. But, I think dr morbius's directions are excellent.

 

[Meryl]

PARMIGIANO O PECORINO??

Carbonara was invented in the Lazio region (some Italians will argue about this, especially the Abruzzesi!) and a Roman will scream and shout if we say we use Parmesan instead of Pecorino!

I always use Parmesan for Carbonara (I don't live in Lazio) , also because it's easier to find commercially, easier to preserve, you can keep it for over a month in the fridge, we prefer the taste, too.

 

[dr morbius]

I had a wedge of pecorino romano for over three months in a plastic bag in my lunchmeat drawer. It's such a dry cheese that if you keep it cold it lasts a long time. If you like parmesan, use it, but real pecorino cheese - which is made from goat's milk as opposed to cow's milk - is wonderful stuff. Also, it should be mentioned that some parmesan cheese wedges out there are absolute garbage. If you're going to the trouble of making authentic carbonara with the eggs and the bacon fat and so on, use really good cheese.

 

[dragnlaw]

Ahhh, yes, a really good cheese is so important. The following sarcasm is by yours truly.

Look on the label, it will say, usually in very small print,

This cheese is utter garbage,
but we are charging an arm and a leg
to make you think it is high quality.
​

 

[Meryl]

I had a wedge of pecorino romano for over three months in a plastic bag in my lunchmeat drawer. It's such a dry cheese that if you keep it cold it lasts a long time. If you like parmesan, use it, but real pecorino cheese - which is made from goat's milk as opposed to cow's milk - is wonderful stuff. Also, it should be mentioned that some parmesan cheese wedges out there are absolute garbage. If you're going to the trouble of making authentic carbonara with the eggs and the bacon fat and so on, use really good cheese.

Sorry to correct you, but pecorino is made from sheep's milk, "caprino" is made from goat's milk.
Caprino is the only cheese I don't like and I definitely wouldn't spoil my carbonara using it.

 

[msmofet]

Welcome to DC Klaudia and pastamaster.

 

[dragnlaw]

Good point Meryl.
However, around here we can also get a hard goat's cheese, similar to pecorino and parmesan. Sometimes it is made from both cow and goat, there is also cow and sheep. But you do have to look for them.
Are you referring to traditional Caprino? Which is soft, rather crumbly and tangy - personally I would not consider it for a pasta either! But love it as a snacking on crackers, in salads, etc. type of cheese, much as you would use feta.

 

[Andy M.]

I keep both parm reg and pecorino romano and use a mixture of the two in my carbonara. Truth be told, I use bacon in place of guanciale because guanciale is not readily available within an hour's drive and I really like bacon.

I combine the grated cheese with the egg in a dish. I add the cooked spaghetti to the cooked the bacon in the skillet then add the egg/cheese mixture and toss it with some of the pasta cooking water. I use the hot pasta cooking pot as a double boiler while I mix the ingredients to make the sauce.

 

[dragnlaw]

I keep both parm reg and pecorino romano and use a mixture of the two in my carbonara. Truth be told, I use bacon in place of guanciale because guanciale is not readily available within an hour's drive and I really like bacon.

I combine the grated cheese with the egg in a dish. I add the cooked spaghetti to the cooked the bacon in the skillet then add the egg/cheese mixture and toss it with some of the pasta cooking water. I use the hot pasta cooking pot as a double boiler while I mix the ingredients to make the sauce.

Excellent suggestion - I'll have to remember that. Thanks Andy.

 

[Kathleen]

To both of you, welcome to the forum!

 

[pictonguy]

This carbonara is from probably 4 years ago and I've changed how I make it now. Currently it's more creamy and I make the sauce (cream) over a double boiler using pasta water of course, and I also now use a combination of pecorino and grana padano and egg yolks whisked together. It's reminiscent of a hollandaise in method, only thinner. I also separate the guanciale from the fat after it's golden and cooked and incorporate some of the fat back into the cream and then generate a thickness of a heavy cream making adjustments with either more cheese or water until I get the viscosity I'm looking for, add the pasta, generally spaghetti but I also use spaghettoni as well. Add the guanciale and lots of pepper. I'll probably take a new picture which will appear more creamy, but the results I feel are much more luxurious and unctuous.

I have 5kg's of local pork cheek which turns out to be 4 cheeks that is being seasoned as of last Saturday. Normally we use our own smoked bacon but recently have been bringing in guanciale but it's really bland and uneventful I think, so I'm curing my own and see how it turns out and it's lella cheaper as well. First time trying, so we'll see how it goes. So far I prefer smoked bacon.

EDIT: I also cook the pasta in about half as much water and not quite at a rolling boil, this generates more starch which helps generate a thicker "cream"

 

[Meryl]

Good point Meryl.
However, around here we can also get a hard goat's cheese, similar to pecorino and parmesan. Sometimes it is made from both cow and goat, there is also cow and sheep. But you do have to look for them.
Are you referring to traditional Caprino? Which is soft, rather crumbly and tangy - personally I would not consider it for a pasta either! But love it as a snacking on crackers, in salads, etc. type of cheese, much as you would use feta.

We have many types of caprino cheese, soft, semi-hard, hard, and some caprinos also contain cow's milk. Each region has their own speciality.
Yes, I was referring to the flaky type but I don't like any of them.

 

[dragnlaw]

Wouldn't you know - going through my inbox - from the Spruce Eats Mushroom Carbonara Recipe and I was just thinking I hadn't had Carbonara for a while and I just bought some mushrooms.